The present disclosure relates generally to the field of automated maintenance (including nondestructive inspection) of aircraft structural elements such as airfoil-shaped bodies, and more particularly to an automated end effector-carrying apparatus that is coupled to and travels along an airfoil-shaped body while performing a maintenance function.
At least one known inspection system includes a frame that is configured to secure to the leading and trailing edges of the airfoil being inspected. More specifically, the frame includes rollers that move along the leading and trailing edges of the airfoil. Additionally, a drive system “drives” either the leading or trailing edge rollers to move the inspection system along the length of the airfoil. However, in operation, the drive rollers may slip off the leading edge as the device traverses along the length of the airfoil requiring the operator to reposition the inspection system on the airfoil.
During the performance of robotic maintenance functions, it would be advantageous to provide an improved design in which the blade crawler does not tend to fall off track when encountering a blade section having a non-constant profile or complex curvature.